Add warm water and sugar to the bowl of your mixer and stir to dissolve the sugar. Add in the yeast and let it activate for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture becomes foamy and/or frothy.
To the yeast mixture, add in the salt, oil and 4 cups of flour. Use your dough hook attachment to stir the mixture together, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Gradually add 1/2 cup of flour at a time, while kneading the dough with the dough hook, until the dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl and is only slightly tacky when touched. Knead for an additional 5 to 7 minutes to activate the gluten in the bread. Shape the dough into a round ball.
Coat a large bowl with oil or non-stick spray and place dough ball in, turning once to coat dough with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap (be sure to spray the bottom side of the plastic wrap with non-stick spray so dough does not stick). Let dough rise for 1 hour, or until double in size.
Punch down dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface or silicone baking mat. Divide the dough into two equal parts and roll into a rectangle, with the short edges measuring about 8 inches long. Roll up the dough starting at the short edge and place each rolled dough in a lightly greased loaf pan. Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap and let rise again for 1 to 2 hours, or until dough reaches 1/2" to 1" above pan. Remove plastic wrap.
Bake the bread in a 375° F preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, till bread tops are golden brown and sound hallow when tapped. Let bread cool in pan for just 5 to 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
Let the bread cool before slicing and enjoying!
Notes
*Recipe makes 2 loaves of breadTIPS -
How To Store - Keep bread wrapped in plastic or in an air tight container on counter for up to 7 days. Bread can be refrigerated or frozen to lengthen life of bread.
Whole Wheat Flour - Substitute up to half of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour if desired.
Instant Yeast - If using instant yeast, you can skip the first rise and go right to the second rise.
Size of Loaf Pan - Any size close to 9"x5" (within a couple inches) will work great!